US Dish Network flags up further subscriber losses in Q4, 2022

US pay TV platform Dish Network has revealed yet another decline in subscribers for Q4, 2022. Although the company has not yet released its results for the period, it was required to disclose the 270,000 decline as part of an SEC filing this week.

In the SEC filing, Dish reports total Q4 subs of 9.75m, down 270,000 on the Q3, 2022 figures. This figure covers Dish TV and Sling TV subscribers, both of which experienced quarter on quarter reversals. Dish was down around 195,000 during the period in question while Sling fell by 76,000. Analyst MoffettNathason noted that Dish’s base is now “only about one third the size it achieved at its peak in 2009.”

The results confirm the continued relentless impact of cord-cutting, which is affecting all pay TV providers in the US. Just last week, rival platform DirecTV announced plans to cut 10% of its workforce, citing “secular decline” in the pay TV industry.

As noted last week in DTVE, the pressure facing both Dish and DirecTV is likely to renew speculation about a possible merger between the two. This was first attempted decades ago, but blocked at the time by completion regulators.